Danbury boys give Ridgefield a tough battle

Published 11:20 pm, Thursday, January 24, 2013

Danbury High School boys basketball head coach Casey Bock questioning a call during a game against Ridgefield High School, at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Danbury High School boys basketball head coach Casey Bock questioning a call during a game against Ridgefield High School, at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 2 of 13

Ridgefield High School boys basketball head coach Carl Charles talking with a player during a game at Danbury High School. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Ridgefield High School boys basketball head coach Carl Charles talking with a player during a game at Danbury High School. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 3 of 13

Ridgefield High School boys basketball head coach Carl Charles talking with a player during a game at Danbury High School. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Ridgefield High School boys basketball head coach Carl Charles talking with a player during a game at Danbury High School. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 4 of 13

Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy goes up for a shot as Danbury High School's Mike Kline tries to defend during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy goes up for a shot as Danbury High School's Mike Kline tries to defend during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 5 of 13

Danbury High School's Jalen McCallen tries to block the shot of Ridgefield High School's Jon Hicks during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Danbury High School's Jalen McCallen tries to block the shot of Ridgefield High School's Jon Hicks during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 6 of 13

Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy shoots in a game at Danbury High School Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy shoots in a game at Danbury High School Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 7 of 13

Danbury High School's Mike Kline shoots in a game against Ridgefield High School, at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Danbury High School's Mike Kline shoots in a game against Ridgefield High School, at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 8 of 13

Danbury High School's DanyJoel Harris shooting during a game against Ridgefield High School, at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Danbury High School's DanyJoel Harris shooting during a game against Ridgefield High School, at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 9 of 13

Danbury High School's Corey Chaffee tries to get away from Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy to get the loose ball during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Danbury High School's Corey Chaffee tries to get away from Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy to get the loose ball during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 10 of 13

Danbury High School's Corey Chaffee and Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy tangle during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Danbury High School's Corey Chaffee and Ridgefield High School's Jeff Racy tangle during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 11 of 13

Ridgefield High School's Andrew Barton tries to get around Danbury High School's Javonte Parker during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Ridgefield High School's Andrew Barton tries to get around Danbury High School's Javonte Parker during a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 12 of 13

Ridgefield High School's Kurt Steidl goes up for a shot during a game at Danbury High School. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Ridgefield High School's Kurt Steidl goes up for a shot during a game at Danbury High School. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Image 13 of 13

Danbury High School's DanyJoel Harris works around Ridgefield High School's Jon Hicks in a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Danbury High School's DanyJoel Harris works around Ridgefield High School's Jon Hicks in a game at Danbury. Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

Photo: Scott Mullin

Danbury boys give Ridgefield a tough battle

1 / 13

Back to Gallery

DANBURY -- The Ridgefield and Danbury high school boys basketball teams hooked up in a FCIAC battle Thursday night that was a microcosm of both teams' season's so far.

Ridgefield showed its balance and depth and used a big second-quarter run to post a 60-52 over Danbury on Thursday night at Danbury High School.

The Tigers improved to 10-2 and won their fourth straight while the Hatters (5-7) again played tough against one of the league's best but just didn't quite have enough to pull out a signature victory.

Kurt Steidl went 12-for-12 from the line, including eight in the fourth quarter, and led Ridgefield with 20 points. The Tigers got 10 points from Jeff and Pat Racy and a huge effort on both ends of the floor from Jonathan Hicks, who canned a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 12 points while playing strong defense on Danbury leading scorer DanyJoel Harris.

Ridgefield led 36-30 entering the fourth and pushed the lead to 46-34 after a bucket by Hicks off a nice feed from Andrew Barton. After a Danbury timeout, Tigers coach Carl Charles asked his team to play with poise down the stretch, and they did as the Hatters tried to make a frantic run.

"When we come in here it's a very hostile environment and you have two schools that are rivals and want to beat each other really bad," Charles said. "You know you're going to get Danbury's best effort and it was a great environment tonight. It's great to come on the road and win like that."

Danbury never quit and cut the lead to five with about two minutes left on a 3-pointer by Mike Kline. But every Danbury push was answered by Ridgefield at the line. Steidl made his eight free throws in the fourth quarter in the final minute and guard Charlie Irwin went 4-of-5 from the line in the fourth.

Harris fouled out late and led the Hatters with 17 points, all of which he had to work for against the ever-changing Ridgefield defense. The Tigers played a variety of zones and even threw in a box-and-one on Harris in the second half with Hicks shadowing Danbury's leading scorer all over the court.

And while Ridgefield had four players in double figures, only C.J. White reached double figures along with Harris for Danbury, finishing with 12.

"Jon Hicks played what I felt was his best game of the year for us so far," Charles said. "He hit some three and he always plays great defense, great team player.

The Hatters, who had dropped four straight, could not have hoped for a better start. They opened with a 9-4 run and center Jalen McCallum got the crowd into it early with a putback slam and a blocked shot on the other end and the Tigers seemed a bit tentative.

But that didn't last and a switch to a match-up zone turned the tide. Danbury missed 3s, forced shots and turned the ball over too many times, especially when facing a team like the Tigers. Ridgefield closed the second quarter on a 14-5 run and took a 29-21 lead at the half.

"I saw them getting too much penetration out there and I just felt we were going to be taken advantage of so we went match-up for a while and then we played some basic zones and then we went box and one," Charles said. "We were just trying to mix and keep them off guard."

The second-quarter run was just something the Hatters were never able to fully recover from, but they never stopped trying and competed for the full 32 minutes.

"I thought we played pretty well," Danbury coach Casey Bock said. "We let them go on a run late in the first half and they got an eight point lead we never could get back all those eight points. We are competing but we have to go out and knock somebody off. It's pleasing that we are playing hard and playing together, we just have to get it done."